4-year-old walked home from Texas school during the day — but no one noticed, mom says

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Ashley Palms received a knock on her door Tuesday afternoon just after 2 p.m., according to KHOU 11.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see her 4-year-old daughter Alyssa standing there, alone, without her brothers and other children from the neighborhood who also make the walk home.

No one, including school staff, knew Alyssa was missing, KHOU reported.

Palms knew it was strange her daughter arrived home earlier than normal, so she took her daughter back to Law Elementary School in Houston. Once at the school, she was shown surveillance video of Alyssa walking out, per KTRK.

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“You could see in the video how scared she was,” Palms told the news outlet. “She sat down and kind of started hugging her own legs and looking around, and just confused and not knowing what to do.”

According to Palms, the surveillance video showed the class being escorted to the bathroom, but once the kids were done, everyone went back to the classroom, KHOU reported. However, Alyssa did not know where to go because she did not see anyone else in the hallway.

So she walked home.

The Houston Independent School District released the following statement to the McClatchy news group:

“The district is looking into this matter to determine what occurred and how best to ensure the safety of all HISD students. In addition, the campus is reviewing its procedures to ensure that all children are properly supervised, as the safety of our students is always our top priority.”

“She could have been kidnapped, abducted anything could have happened,” Palms told KTRK.

Tyler Carter, a Real-Time reporter based out of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is an avid lover of media, fitness, sports and telling impactful stories. Previously, he served as a trending/breaking news/crime reporter for AL.com and The Mississippi Press.